Broken Strings
by WhereverUAre
Summary: Will Arthur lose the person he loves the most?


It was midday when Sir Leon burst into the throne room. Arthur looked up, confused, from the scrolls and maps that he was studying. Leon was supposed to be on patrol that would only let him return three days from now.

"Leon?"

Oddly enough, the knight seemed to avoid Arthur's gaze.

This can't be good. Thought Merlin.

"Sire, We found an old woman in the forests' boundaries."

Arthur looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"She was with a body and a babe. She claims to have helped the mother give birth to the child and within minutes, the mother passed away. "

Arthur's own mother had passed away in child birth. It wasn't unheard of for women to die in childbirth, especially while traveling. As much as it burdened Arthur to know that an innocent child was to bear the guilt he felt in his heart for so long, he was still confused as to why this caused Leon to cut short his patrol to inform him of this unfortunate event Arthur had no control over.

"And why are you telling me this, Leon? We can hardly set up midwives in forests to prevent it from happening again."

"Sire, the body…"

Leon finally met Arthur's eyes, trying to make him understand what he desperately wanted to deny. He beseeched silently that Arthur wouldn't make him speak the words he dreaded so. Thankfully, all those years together paid off and alarm ringed in Arthur's eyes as he immediately got out of his throne and ran out to the stables. Leon and Merlin followed him, Arthur knew that anything recovered from the forest that couldn't be helped was taken to a small store house near the stables.

As they rushed towards the store house, Arthur could make out the outline of an old woman holding a bundle like shape wrapped in a red cape. Leon,ever the knight, must have given up his cloak for the new born babe. Percival was at the door hovering around the woman obviously uncomfortable with the turn on events.

When Arthur approached the odd trio ( counting the baby) he looked into the blood red bundle, a babe with electric blue eyes looked back at him. Arthur heard Merlin inhale sharply at the color of the child's eyes. Their fears had just been confirmed. Arthur, still desperately trying to be in blissful denial, walked into the storage when a horse drawn cart was tethered to a corner. The smell of dried blood and fluids filled the congested room. Amidst the hay, a prone form lay, painfully still.

Every step Arthur took, he could feel blood pulse in his head.

_Surely, fate couldn't be this cruel. _

_They were all happy. she loved him and he loved her. He was going to be king and she was already his queen. It was all that had mattered. But she used to wake up screaming, tormented by dreams that he desperately wished he could save her from. She used to tell him what she saw most of the time . He soon figured it out. She was glimpsing into the future. He guarded this secret with his life and was still weighing options, imagining a life outside Camelot with her when disaster struck._

_One day, her health was troubling her and she was instructed to stay in bed all day by Gaius. He was worried sick but the responsibilities of being crown prince were burdening and he had to spend a few hours in court before he was allowed respite and he along with his father went to visit her._

_The minute he walked into room that life as he knew it had ended. The furniture of her room was hovering a few inches in the air as she restlessly tossed around in her bed. Uther and he just stood, shell shocked, when she sat up, a scream emitting from her pale lips when all the glass in her room shattered. She was besides herself in panic when she noticed the witness to her supposed treason. Uther was furious when he found out. He had her banished. It still managed to break his heart. Uther passed away in his sleep a few months after she left. Arthur tried to find and searched her in every possible nook and corner. He hadn't given up. The woman he loved was strong. He could never ever give up on her._

_After what felt like an eternity, he reached the cart to see a body covered in another knight's cloak. With shaking hands, Arthur moved the cloak off the mother's face. His greatest treasure was lying here among the unclassified mess. Asking Leon to make arrangements for proper rites, Arthur slowly moved away from the cart and headed outside. He took the child into his arms._

"_Merlin, this is my child." he managed to choke out. Merlin tried to convey to Arthur his grief and reverence by a firm on his shoulder, understanding all that was left unsaid._

"_Dear lady, Did the mother tell you anything?" Arthur asked the old woman, hoping to have something to hold onto. _

"_She named the boy Modred."_

_Arthur held the child close to his heart as he walked back to the castle. _

_Modred, the son of Arthur and Morgana. _


End file.
